Welcome to the blog of author Tricia Goyer!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Gift boxes!

A unique way to say Thanks for all your hard work to your book's publisher!

A few weeks ago my trusty girl, Amy from Litfuse, put together these boxes for the Multnomah team who're involved with the production, release and sale of Blue Like Play Dough!


The boxes followed the themes of motherhood in Blue Like Play Dough...a little something for the kid in them (Play-doh, Play-doh toy, slinky, Go Fish or Old Maid) and a little something for the adult in them (an energy bar, chocolates).




Multnomah LOVED the boxes!
The team loved being thought of and given this small gift. I've done similar things in the past with other books. For my teen book, My Life, Unscripted (which uses a script writing metaphor) I put together boxes for the sales team that included movie theater tickets, theater candy, and a script from and episode of the TV show Facts of Life.
What are some unique things you've done for your publisher or editor?

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Unique launch party ideas



Christy Barritt launched her latest book with an AWESOME event! I'll let her tell you all about it!

Why does someone want me, a simple mystery author, dead?

That’s the question I’m asking myself thanks to the release of my latest book.

Let me explain.

I wanted to do something creative for the release of my mystery novel, Suspicious Minds. I’m an out-of-the-box thinker, so I sat down with pen, paper and a couple of friends to brainstorm some ideas. For awhile, I tapped my pen against blank paper.

I’ve done book signings before. I’ve taught workshops. I’ve had the book release parties.

I needed something creative and exciting.

That’s when an idea hit—why not do a Murder Mystery Dinner Theater that featured characters from my book? Better yet, why not do it as a fundraiser and give all the proceeds to a family-in-need?

The ideas started rolling. I contacted a woman I knew, Kathy, who writes Mystery Dinner Theaters to get some pointers on how to approach the script. We talked for awhile and she gave me some good ideas. Still, I felt stalled because of all the details. I had a lot of other demands on me and couldn’t fully give myself mentally to the task.

But God does work in mysterious ways.

A few weeks later, Kathy called and offered to write the script for me!
The idea continued to get bigger than I ever imagined. Several organizations expressed interest in hosting the event as fundraisers. All of the actors—whom Kathy also organized—volunteered to do the play as often as possible for free!

We titled the event “Writing Mysteries Can Be Murder.” The set up for the play is that I’m coming in to do a book signing, but on the way, my brakes fail, so I’m late. A detective shows up who’s been investigating several other mysterious incidents that have been happening in my life lately—including a kitchen fire, a failed pipe bomb and poisoned brownies on my front doorstep.

As audience members eat their meals, people begin popping up in the crowd, each saying awful things about me. I slowly realize that they’re characters from my books. Each of them has as gripe against me, for various reasons… I didn’t give them a big enough role in the book, I painted them in a negative light, I didn’t give them a last name, etc. Each of them also has a motive to want me dead.

The audience gets to interact with the cast and ask them questions throughout the evening. At the end, everyone votes on who they think is trying to kill me.

We’ve done four performances so far. The second performance took place at an old one room school house about 45 minutes from my house. The intimate setting was perfect, as was the thunderstorm that began during the course of our performance. There was lots of laughter and accusations and fun.

Afterward, cast members gave their testimonies. I sell my books. And audience members come away with a memorable experience! One person even accepted Christ for the first time after seeing the performance.
We have several more shows lined up. The idea was unique even that we’ve even gotten some media coverage.

I’m glad I thought outside of the box, or as the newspaper said, I had a “novel” idea. Now, if only I could figure out who’s trying to kill me…

In the coming weeks, I'll be discussing how YOU can also have creative launch parties for your book.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Advice for Novelists (Part 54)

C.J. Darlington, co-founder of TitleTrakk, is running a great series on her blog: She started a series of blog posts in which industry professionals (editors, agents, publicists, authors, etc.) share their responses to this question:

The Advice for Novelists series continues with multi-published author Cec Murphey. He has 108 books published, 17 of them fiction. Not to mention 700 articles!

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

Cec says...Learn the craft is common advice and I agree. I add: And make a commitment to God and to yourself never to stop learning. One way to see if writers have grown is to look at their earlier writing and compare it with their current output. If it's of the same quality, it shows they've stopped learning.

--Cec Murphey, author of the bestselling 90 Minutes in Heaven (w/ Don Piper), the cozy mystery Everybody Loves Roger Harden, and many many more. Visit his website here.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Writing contemporary novels...



Writing contemporary novels doesn’t have quite the same layers as writing a historical novel.

1. I write my idea in one sentence and then paragraph. (Randy’s Snowflake!)

2. I then sit down and write the first chapter. It gives me an insight into the characters/voice/theme.

3. I make sure the story problem is woven into the first page of the first chapter. What is this book about? What does my character want more than anything?

4. I play with the setting/character(s). I ask how can I make the setting almost a character itself. I ask what family situation/characteristics/history does this person have to make the stakes higher in his/her effort to achieve the goal?

5. I start researching—the setting, the lifestyle, the area, the occupation, etc.

6. I sit down a write out a summary for the whole book. With each chapter I keep making things worse for the character. Then I add the climax and resolution.

7. The summary is usually 12-17 pages, and I center each part around “scenes” for the novel. I skip over the boring stuff in my summary … which reminds me to skip over the boring stuff in my book.

8. I go back and start writing the novel. Sometimes I make notes of things I need to research. Sometimes I stop writing and start looking for the info I need.

9. I don’t’ start from page one and keep going to the end. Instead, I’ll write the scene that is freshest and/or more exciting in my mind. Later, I piece the parts together and fill in the spots that need filling. (Usually there is little filling needed, which shows that all the highlights have been hit.)

10. I write fast—as fast as I can, and I don’t edit myself as I go.

11. I close my eyes and picture what is happening. I put myself in the middle of the scene, see it, smell it, taste it, feel it and then put all that on the page.

12. When the novel is done, I go back and have software http://www.naturalreader.com/ read it to me. It helps me “feel” the story. Then I edit and send it to my friends to read.

(photo courtesy of flickr)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Co-writing...

I co-wrote a novel, The Swiss Courier (Revell 2009) with Mike Yorkey. Mike wrote up his post about how we worked, and then he sent it to me. I then took the post, tweaked it, and I added my flavor and thoughts ... which is pretty much how we worked on the novel!

A-hem:

Mike and Tricia started by working hard on the one-sentence and one-paragraph synopsis for "The Swiss Courier," and then they began fleshing out the characters. They also firmed up a basic plot. They next wrote a couple of chapters, with some back-and-forth, and then it was off to the races for Mike. He was the lead researcher and writer. He knew where to take the plot. To use Mike’s horse-racing metaphor (Tricia knows nothing about horse racing!), Mike was the one doing the running in the co-authoring relationship (doing the writing of the rough draft), and Tricia was the jockey, making sure Mike was going in the right direction. This meant Tricia edited—told Mike what worked, what didn’t work, and why. Tricia also cut out chunks and added chucks, but she doesn’t know how that ties into horse racing! Mike won't say Tricia beat him with the whip, but she reined him in on some areas and then gave me a "hand" ride (a horse racing term for slight guidance) so as not to stifle his creativity. All the way, Mike and Tricia both knew where the finish line was, and they think it was a winning horse-and-rider combination.

From Mike, with Tricia’s additions and revisions included
www.mikeyorkey.com
www.triciagoyer.com

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Plotting a historical novel...


Here are my notes (in 250 words) for plotting a historical novel. I write contemporary novels and non-fiction completely different!


Basic Time-period Research

-- Overall view of time period

-- Jot notes of interest

-- “Research” file in WORD doc.


BASIC

-- Basic character sketch

-- Basic plot (10-20 points) (If I have multiple POVs, then basic plots for each)

-- Basic research for these plots (dates, battles, big problems during that time)


WORD DOCUMENTS

-- A file for each character

-- A file for general research

-- A date file

-- A plot file


Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maass

-- Work through the assignments.

-- This is a mix of getting to know your characters, their motivations, and their conflict.

-- As I work through the assignments, I put them in the document for that character

-- Motivations

-- Parts of scenes

-- Dialogue


Scenes, Research, Characters

-- If I also discover plot points I put them in the PLOT document

-- My plot is a BREAKDOWN OF SCENES

-- Scenes are color-coded by character

-- Research areas of plot and characters.

-- Check important dates/events


Blocking out scenes

-- Who does what.

-- Who goes where.

-- Motivation.

-- Conflict.

-- Setting.

-- This is what gave me the break though from unpublished to published—visualizing exactly what was going to happen and showing in dramatically, considering the goals, motivation, and conflict of the characters.

(photo courtesy of flickr)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Help from friends...

Great post from Julie Carobini from CAN...


Julie Carobini here from California.

My dad's a ham. Seriously, give him a microphone and he's in his glory. Me--not so much. Yet getting up in front of groups is necessary in this business.

So I've become a fan of group signing events. In the past year or so, I've signed books with both friends and strangers, Christian and general market authors (including one who writes erotica. No kidding.)

Here are five benefits of the group signing event:

1. Cross-marketing! Suspense readers get introduced to Romance, and Historical fans learn about Contemporaries, and on and on. (Yeah, send those erotica readers right this way...)

2. Higher attendance. Big names don't always mean big draws. (I once attended an event with a super big name--and there were only 7 in the audience, including me.) However, schedule several published authors together, and now we're talkin'.

3. Moral support. I was honored to do a Borders signing with Jim Bell and Kathryn Cushman. We sat together in the 'green room' before the event (i.e., a cluttered back office), planning and chatting and making each other laugh before heading out to the 100+ -- I did mention that Bell and Cushman were there, right? -- waiting for us.

4. Built in cheerleaders. Before a recent book tour with three other authors, we discussed one another's novels. When the time came to chat with interested buyers, we actively marketed each other's books. A win-win.
5. Hone those skills. Lauraine Snelling is friendly and bold. Cathy Hake has no problem leaving the signing table to chat with shoppers throughout the store. The more signings I did with these women--nine in all--the bolder I became (in my own beachy way, that is :)

Katie, aka Kathryn Cushman, says, "The thing I like best about group signings, is they don’t feel so 'all about me' like a single signing sometimes does. It’s great to have someone else to talk about, promote, and encourage."

Monday, November 17, 2008

Advice for Novelists (Part 53)

C.J. Darlington, co-founder of TitleTrakk, is running a great series on her blog: She started a series of blog posts in which industry professionals (editors, agents, publicists, authors, etc.) share their responses to this question:

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

Here's Tosca Lee! Okay, my advice to aspiring novelists:Don't do it.

There's too much competition already and I have a troubled Shar Pei to support here. So help me out and put down the pen.

But if you must write, please write encyclopedia entries. Or obituaries. Or anything that I do not write.

If you must write fiction, and must write well, and feel somehow compelled to be clever and brilliant and relevant, then I guess you should invest in a good chair, at least, for those long deadline days. You'll understand what I'm talking about soon enough. And please consider contributing to my dog food fund.

Seriously, the best advice I can give you is that as soon as you are done with your first book, get right on to the second, even before you've sold the first. Publishing committees will want to know what else you have. You'll also make it easier on yourself with that second or even third novel if you have something in the works, almost done, or complete to offer. I wish I had done this--it would have saved me a load of work, angst, and general paranoia.

--Tosca Lee, author of Demon and the forthcoming Havah: The Story of Eve. Visit her online at her website.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Facebook part 2

Jan here again...let's continue this interview with Jean Damoff. In this second half, Jeanne delves deeper into what she's tried with Facebook (FB) . . .

Jeanne, please share one or two short examples of how you use Facebook?

Facebook has a number of great tools. If you write a blog, you can set your posts to import automatically as FB “notes,” increasing your potential blog readership. If the post applies to any particular FB friends, you can “tag” them in the note, and they’ll be notified. You can also upload photo albums and tag the people in the pictures. They (and all their FB “friends”) will receive notification. I adore these notification features, and FB is just loaded with them! You can also help your friends by posting their notes or group links on your own profile page. FB makes communication between its users very easy.

What other Facebook features do you see using in the future for your ministry and work as a writer?

A number of authors have created “fan” pages, which—like my Parting the Waters group page—allows the owner to compose one message and send it to all the fans or members. If you want to announce a book signing, speaking engagement, or a radio/TV appearance, you can also create an event page connected to your fan or group page. One click informs your entire group about the event. I plan to use this feature as I schedule events connected to this book release. I recently heard that an author hosted a book release party on FB. I’m not sure exactly how that worked, but I’d love to hear more about it. FB leaves room for a lot of creativity and the potential to reach thousands of people with your news or message.

What encouragement would you give to writers who are considering using social networking sites as a way to promote their speaking and writing?

I don’t know any Christian writers who particularly love the idea of promoting themselves, but it’s a necessary part of the business. Facebook is a non-threatening, relaxed environment where people seem more approachable than they might in a more professional setting. I don’t consider it primarily a place to promote my work, but I like the fact that—when I need to use it for that purpose—the process is relatively simple and painless. Most of the time, I’m just delighted to have such wonderful access to friends. And of course I still log on to look for new pictures of my kids.

Any other thoughts you'd like to add?

Thanks for the opportunity to share with your readers, Jan. Also, for those who aren’t already on Facebook, I encourage you to give it a try. It’s simple. Just go to facebook.com and follow the easy steps. And don’t worry about being the new kid. I’ll be your friend.

Thank you, Jeanne, for giving us some insight into Facebook! Be sure to check out Jeanne's website and her Parting the Waters Facebook page. (If you can't open the Facebook page, join Facebook, and ask to join her group.)

Let's keep the ideas flowing.

Question: What have you tried that has worked well for you in using Facebook or another social networking site?

Thursday, November 13, 2008

A What For? and How To...

take advantage of FACEBOOK as a writer!

Welcome guest blogger Jan Kern as she shares an interview with Jeanne Damoff about how to use social networking tools as a writer. (reposted from CAN)


It seems there's always something new to try or to learn with online promotion. We can't do it all, and we quickly discover that some of the offerings work better for our books than others. Generally I've found that blogging and networking profiles (MySpace, ShoutLife, Facebook) work very well and very naturally for promotion of the writing I do for teens and young adults. So I'm intrigued when I hear of others who are also using one of those modes--especially when they're doing something I haven't tried yet. Recently I interviewed Jeanne Damoff, and she shared how she uses Facebook as a part of her promotional repertoire. "Listen" in as she offers both an introduction and some advanced creative options . . .

Jeanne, you use Facebook as one of your preferred networking sites. What do you most like about using this site?

Facebook (FB) isn't the only social networking site online, but it's my personal favorite.

I first joined without a thought to professional connections, but rather to stalk my adult children. I knew their friends had posted hundreds of photos of them on FB, and--thanks to the tagging feature--I could access many of those shots from my kids’ profile pages (assuming they accepted my "friend" request, which of course they did.)

There must have been some brilliant minds behind the FB design, because I quickly (and almost effortlessly) reconnected with all sorts of people. A simple e-mail address search helped me find lots of acquaintances. Then, as I added friends, other people found me, because FB informed them I was there. You can also search for people by name or based on a city, high school, or college. I've caught up with folks from a variety of life categories—-some I’d lost contact with for years.

Better yet, I don't even have to stalk anyone. Facebook informs me when one of my "friends" uploads a new photo (or is tagged in one) or posts an update or has a birthday. And that's only the shallows of the FB ocean.

How does Facebook help you network as a writer?

Hundreds of Christian writers and quite a few editors and agents have FB profiles. When you add one writer friend, chances are you’ll run into some more. And FB even suggests “people you may know” based on mutual friendships. The Christian publishing industry network expands quickly and easily through FB’s user-friendly format.

FB is not a place to pitch your project, but--because of its ingenius design--it is a place where you can get a better “feel” for a person in some respects than you can on a websites or even a blog. And it’s a relaxed atmosphere where you can leave a friendly message on a favorite author or editor’s “wall” without feeling like a sycophant.

Do you use Facebook as a promotional and ministry tool? Tell us how you do that.

I have a cool story about that, and it just happened.

I'm about to release Parting the Waters, a book about how God brought beauty out of brokenness through our son Jacob’s near-drowning accident. I decided to create a public FB group announcing the release to all my "friends" and encouraging them to help spread the word by inviting others.

When someone joins my group, their "mini feed" announces it to all their friends. News spreads. As a result, some of Jacob's peers joined the group, and a young woman who was in his graduating class noticed it and checked out the page. She remembered how the whole community rallied around our family, and she also remembered praying for Jacob, even though she didn’t know him well.

As God would have it, this young woman just happens to be the producer of KSLA News 12, a major news network that reaches parts of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. She not only joined the FB group, last week she contacted me and is planning an extensive feature story including on-camera interviews with our family and others. She said the whole newsroom is excited about it, and she wants to do everything she can to help me promote the book.

Of course, I'm not guaranteeing if you start a FB group, a TV station is going to call and ask to do a show about you. But, hey. God can do whatever He wants with whatever is available. I didn't even know this contact existed until FB brought us together.

(to be continued next tomorrow)

----

In the meantime, let's stir up a discussion. Feel free to share how you use Facebook or other networking sites for marketing (and ministry with your writing), or how you'd like to when you get your book published..

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Attitude of a Successful Writer

By Jim Denney

I snagged this from Terry Whalin's newsletter! Visit his site...he ROCKS!

In his book Telling Lies for Fun and Profit, Laurence Block wrote, "It continues to astonish me what a widespread and enduring fantasy 'Being a Writer' is for the population at large. It's a rare day when I don't encounter some misguided chap who expresses the desire to trade places with me. And it's on those not-so-rare days when everything goes wrong, when the words won't come but the rejections fly thick and fast, when the bank account's gone dry again and editors don't even bother lying about the check's being in the mail, that otherwise sane folks tell me how much they envy me."

I've noticed that, when people find out what I do for a living, they often say, "I always wanted to be a writer," or, "I bet I could write a book if I put my mind to it." The people who tell you such things might be pizza delivery guys or doctors or astronauts, yet they all admire writers. They all have a secret wish that they could write. They all think they could do what you do if they had the time or the opportunity or if their lives were different somehow.

But you know what? I've never met a writer anywhere who wanted to be anything other than a writer. Take any person who says, "I am a writer," and I don't care how penniless he is, how long it has been since his last paycheck, how much he struggles with self-doubt, writer's block, and unreasonable deadlines--he does not, even for a moment, consider changing jobs. Why? Because writing is not a job. It's a mission. It's a calling. It's more essential to your soul than a career. It is not just your profession--it's your identity.

A computer programmer can go to seminary and become a preacher. A school teacher can tender her resignation and become an exotic dancer. But can a writer give up writing and become something else? Unheard of! Writing is not what you do, it's who you are! If you are a writer, there is nothing else to be.

If you know in your bones what I'm talking about, if you know that you have to be a writer, then you must write. You only get one life, and the life you've been given is made up of a finite number of heartbeats. Between your first heartbeat and your last is a brief span of time in which you are permitted to write your books and speak your piece. When your time is up, they will put you in a box and throw you in a hole to make room for the next writer waiting in line.

So now is your time, my friend. If you're going to write your books, you'd better get at it. Here are the keys to maintaining the attitude of a working writer as you pound your dreams into reality:

• Stay cool under pressure. Writing requires intense mental concentration. Pressures are distractions, and distractions are corrosive forces that can stop the flow of your writing. Marital and family strife are deadly to your inspiration. Financial stress can make it hard to put two coherent thoughts together. Deadline pressure can make you freeze like a deer in the halogen highbeams.

Understand, I'm not telling you to eliminate pressures and distractions from your life. It can't be done. The problems and pressures of life are inevitable, so you must learn to cope. One of the best survival skills a writer has is the ability to remain cool under pressure. There may come times when you are under intense deadline pressure and intense financial pressure at the same time--way too much work and no money at all. It will seem massively unfair and unreasonable--but you still have to finish the work in order to collect your next check. Money or no money, stress or no stress, you've got to write.

My most important asset in the early days of my freelance career was a sense of perspective. I looked at things this way: Okay, there's no money--so what's the worst that can happen? I put off some bills and make my apologies to a few creditors. The check will eventually get here.

Meanwhile, I can still write, I still have my health and my family, and life goes on. On the scale of bad things that can happen to a person, a little short-term financial stress just doesn't even budge the scale.

• During bad times, avoid self-pity. Unless you somehow manage to write a best-seller right out of the box (and I'm not sneering at that--it has been done), accept the fact that it takes time, patience, and persistence to build your career and achieve your goals. That's the way it should be. If writing was easy, everybody would do it.

At times, you may be tempted to look with envy upon your workaday friends with their secure jobs and regular paychecks. You'll be tempted to feel sorry for yourself. Don't. You have a lot of things going for you that they don't have:

1. Unlimited upside potential. Sure, the money is lean and the checks are slow at first. But your friends, the nine-to-fivers, top out at a certain level. They reach a point where they are making as much as they can make, and they can't advance any higher. A talented, focused, determined writer has unlimited upside potential. If you can write as well as Stephen King, Tom Clancy, or J. K. Rowling, you can become a one-person publishing empire and deforest half of Saskatchewan with your brilliant words. And why shouldn't you?

2. You're doing what you love. How many of your friends can say that? Most of the people you know are just marking time until retirement. Few are doing what they really love to do. If your friends won the lottery today, most of them would quit their jobs tomorrow. But if you won the lottery, would you stop writing? No way! Sudden wealth would just give you more freedom to write what you want.

3. You are a writer. You aren't mowing lawns or delivering pizza. You aren't cold-calling on disinterested prospects. You don't have to wear a pager to the opera, be on call at all hours of the night, or answer to a mean-tempered, autocratic boss. That's not to disparage the people who do those jobs, because all honest work is honorable. But you have something better than a job. You have something nobler than a career. You have a calling. You have a purpose in life. You are a writer.

• Think like an editor. If you want to write books, then ask yourself, "What sells?" Become acquainted with trends, bestsellers, and niche markets. Spend time in bookstores, checking out the racks and the displays, figuring out what sells. Read the trade journals, like Publishers Weekly. Know what editors are looking for, and make it your business to deliver it.

I continually encounter people who want to write a book about their own life or the life of someone close to them. Unfortunately, such books rarely get published. Your grandfather may have been a fascinating man who led an interesting life, but the truth is, if your grandfather didn't win a war, a Super Bowl, or an Academy Award, it's going to be tough finding a publisher for your grandfather's life story. Non-fiction book publishing today is celebrity-driven, event-driven, and publicity-driven. Competition is fierce. If you want to sell your book, you've got to think commercially.

Magazine publishing is another thing altogether. There are thousands of magazines filling hundreds of niches. Even the story of your grandfather's adventures as a ringmaster with a traveling flea circus--if the story is well-written with just the right slant--will sell to one or more of those magazines. You just have to do your homework and familiarize yourself with the markets. That means you must research potential markets in Writer's Digest and on the Internet. If a magazine doesn't post writers' guidelines on its website, then invest in some stamps and ask for them (send an SASE). Most important of all, read the magazine. Get to know its content, focus, readership, editorial personality, and slant. Study the contents page--and study the actual content.

Select a few publications you'd like to write for, then make it your goal to crack that market and keep selling articles there. After you conquer one publication, use your credits to impress editors at other publications, so you can sell to even better-paying markets.

• Finally, have fun! Novelist Piers Anthony once told me, "I hardly need to generate the motivation to write because I love to write and I do it all I can." And writer-editor Robert Darden told me, "My most exciting moments as a writer occur when I'm working on my fiction. It's like a drug--I crave it. Writing fiction is the greatest joy in this business--and when writing is fun, you can't keep from writing!"

So do what you love, have a blast, and write!

________________________________
Jim Denney has more than 70 books to his credit and has been a fulltime freelance writer since 1989. His titles include Answers to Satisfy the Soul and the "Timebenders" science-fantasy series for young readers (beginning with Battle Before Time). Visit Jim's website at www.denneybooks.com. This article is adapted from his book Quit Your Day Job!--How to Sleep Late, Do What You Enjoy, and Make a Ton of Money As a Writer, copyright 2003 by Jim Denney. You may order Quit Your Day Job! from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookseller. You may also order directly from the publisher, Quill Driver Books, at 1-800-497-4909.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Advice for Novelists (Part 52)

C.J. Darlington, co-founder of TitleTrakk, is running a great series on her blog: She started a series of blog posts in which industry professionals (editors, agents, publicists, authors, etc.) share their responses to this question:

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

It's been terrific to hear all the responses. If you're just joining us and would like to read the rest in the series, click here.

Take it away, Mike Dellosso!

Three things. One, never give up. The road will be long and hard and seem endless. It will test your faith, your patience, and your resolve, but it’s doable. 100% of published writers didn’t give up. That’s the truth.

Two, find someone to champion your book, be it agent or editor. To go from manuscript to published novel, every work needs a champion. He or she is out there, you just have to keep looking.

Three, all that being said, remember your writing is a gift from God, even the desire to write is God-given, it’s part of that whole likeness of God thing, our drive to create. Remember for Whom it is you’re writing and that ultimately He’s in charge of your future in writing. Be willing to submit yourself to His will and write what and how He wants you to. Doing that, you can never go wrong.

--Mike Dellosso, author of The Hunted. Visit Mike online at his website.


Oh, and Happy Veteran's Day, check out today's post over at It's Real Life. One more reason why I love celebrating this holiday!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Social Marketing...


The cool thing about social marketing is that sometimes you get to actually socially interact. At the Books & Such Retreat I got to meet two fellow Bookies: Dawn Meehan and Shelia Wray Gregoire! They are even cooler in person than on-line ... and that's saying a lot because they're amazing on-line!

The second cool thing is the because you're "friends" with people on-line, it's easy to become real friends. In both cases, I walked up to both women and launched into a conversation about what been happening with them. And I knew what was happening because of Facebook and Twitter.

So here's too good friends who turn into great friends because of this crazy thing call Internet and social media!

Pssst. Check them out:

Dawn
http://mom2my6pack.blogspot.com/

Shelia
http://www.sheilawraygregoire.com/

Friday, November 7, 2008

Be Encouraged!


Are you discouraged today?

Is your to-do list long enough to wrap around the state of Montana five times?

Do you feel slightly depressed that the year is coming to a close and there is so much you hoped to accomplish, only have last year's resolutions still clinging to your mind (just as that extra five pounds is clinging to your thighs)?

Hang in there. And know that God has a plan for you today. You are not behind. In fact, you are right on schedule. His schedule.

God has everything timed to the minute ... no, wait, to the second. Just think how minutely planned things had to work out for baby Moses to be found within the bullrushes. Or for David to show up in order the slay Goliath. Your day--this moment--is not an accident.I'm encouraging you has God has encouraged my heart this morning. I have 2 1/2 books due next month, and according to my flesh, I am SO behind.

But this morning my spirit sings because the creator of the universe--THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE--has planned this moment in history for me. This day is planned for my good and my growth.

And for yours.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

10 Blog Traffic Tips


I know many of you out there are bloggers too...these are GREAT!

By Yaro Starak

In every bloggers life comes a special day - the day they first launch a new blog. Now unless you went out and purchased someone else's blog chances are your blog launched with only one very loyal reader - you. Maybe a few days later you received a few hits when you told your sister, father, girlfriend and best friend about your new blog but that's about as far you went when it comes to finding readers.

Here are the top 10 techniques new bloggers can use to find readers. These are tips specifically for new bloggers, those people who have next-to-no audience at the moment and want to get the ball rolling.

It helps if you work on this list from top to bottom as each technique builds on the previous step to help you create momentum. Eventually once you establish enough momentum you gain what is called "traction", which is a large enough audience base (about 500 readers a day is good) that you no longer have to work too hard on finding new readers. Instead your current loyal readers do the work for you through word of mouth.

Top 10 Tips

10. Write at least five major "pillar" articles. A pillar article is a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are longer than 500 words and have lots of very practical tips or advice. This article you are currently reading could be considered a pillar article since it is very practical and a good "how-to" lesson. This style of article has long term appeal, stays current (it isn't news or time dependent) and offers real value and insight. The more pillars you have on your blog the better.

9. Write one new blog post per day minimum. Not every post has to be a pillar, but you should work on getting those five pillars done at the same time as you keep your blog fresh with a daily news or short article style post. The important thing here is to demonstrate to first time visitors that your blog is updated all the time so they feel that if they come back tomorrow they will likely find something new. This causes them to bookmark your site or subscribe to your blog feed.

You don't have to produce one post per day all the time but it is important you do when your blog is brand new. Once you get traction you still need to keep the fresh content coming but your loyal audience will be more forgiving if you slow down to a few per week instead. The first few months are critical so the more content you can produce at this time the better.

8. Use a proper domain name. If you are serious about blogging be serious about what you call your blog. In order for people to easily spread the word about your blog you need a easily rememberable domain name. People often talk about blogs they like when they are speaking to friends in the real world (that's the offline world, you remember that place right?) so you need to make it easy for them to spread the word and pass on your URL. Try and get a .com if you can and focus on small easy to remember domains rather than worry about having the correct keywords (of course if you can get great keywords and easy to remember then you’ve done a good job!).

7. Start commenting on other blogs. Once you have your pillar articles and your daily fresh smaller articles your blog is ready to be exposed to the world. One of the best ways to find the right type of reader for your blog is to comment on other people's blogs. You should aim to comment on blogs focused on a similar niche topic to yours since the readers there will be more likely to be interested in your blog.

Most blog commenting systems allow you to have your name/title linked to your blog when you leave a comment. This is how people find your blog. If you are a prolific commenter and always have something valuable to say then people will be interested to read more of your work and hence click through to visit your blog.

6. Trackback and link to other blogs in your blog posts. A trackback is sort of like a blog conversation. When you write a new article to your blog and it links or references another blogger's article you can do a trackback to their entry. What this does is leave a truncated summary of your blog post on their blog entry - it's sort of like your blog telling someone else’s blog that you wrote an article mentioning them. Trackbacks often appear like comments.

This is a good technique because like leaving comments a trackback leaves a link from another blog back to yours for readers to follow, but it also does something very important - it gets the attention of another blogger. The other blogger will likely come and read your post eager to see what you wrote about them. They may then become a loyal reader of yours or at least monitor you and if you are lucky some time down the road they may do a post linking to your blog bringing in more new readers.

5. Encourage comments on your own blog. One of the most powerful ways to convince someone to become a loyal reader is to show there are other loyal readers already following your work. If they see people commenting on your blog then they infer that your content must be good since you have readers so they should stick around and see what all the fuss is about. To encourage comments you can simply pose a question in a blog post. Be sure to always respond to comments as well so you can keep the conversation going.

4. Submit your latest pillar article to a blog carnival. A blog carnival is a post in a blog that summarizes a collection of articles from many different blogs on a specific topic. The idea is to collect some of the best content on a topic in a given week. Often many other blogs link back to a carnival host and as such the people that have articles featured in the carnival often enjoy a spike in new readers.

To find the right blog carnival for your blog, do a search at blogcarnival.com.

3. Submit your blog to blogtopsites.com. To be honest this tip is not going to bring in a flood of new readers but it's so easy to do and only takes five minutes so it's worth the effort. Go to Blog Top Sites, find the appropriate category for your blog and submit it. You have to copy and paste a couple of lines of code on to your blog so you can rank and then sit back and watch the traffic come in. You will probably only get 1-10 incoming readers per day with this technique but over time it can build up as you climb the rankings. It all helps!

2. Submit your articles to EzineArticles.com. This is another tip that doesn’t bring in hundreds of new visitors immediately (although it can if you keep doing it) but it's worthwhile because you simply leverage what you already have - your pillar articles. Once a week or so take one of your pillar articles and submit it to Ezine Articles. Your article then becomes available to other people who can republish your article on their website or in their newsletter.

How you benefit is through what is called your "Resource Box". You create your own resource box which is like a signature file where you include one to two sentences and link back to your website (or blog in this case). Anyone who publishes your article has to include your resource box so you get incoming links. If someone with a large newsletter publishes your article you can get a lot of new readers at once.

1. Write more pillar articles. Everything you do above will help you to find blog readers however all of the techniques I've listed only work when you have strong pillars in place. Without them if you do everything above you may bring in readers but they won’t stay or bother to come back. Aim for one solid pillar article per week and by the end of the year you will have a database of over 50 fantastic feature articles that will work hard for you to bring in more and more readers.

I hope you enjoyed my list of traffic tips. Everything listed above are techniques I've put into place myself for my blogs and have worked for me, however it's certainly not a comprehensive list. There are many more things you can do. Finding readers is all about testing to see what works best for you and your audience and I have no doubt if you put your mind to it you will find a balance that works for you.
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Yaro Starak, a professional blogger wrote this article. He is the leader of the Blog Mastermind mentoring program designed to teach bloggers how to earn a full time income blogging part time.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Advice for Novelists (Part 51)

C.J. Darlington, co-founder of TitleTrakk, is running a great series on her blog: She started a series of blog posts in which industry professionals (editors, agents, publicists, authors, etc.) share their responses to this question:

Today we hear once again from an editor's perspective in our Advice for Novelists series. I don't know about you, but I sit up and take notice when editors take the time to give advice. And Andrea Doering graciously responded today to the question:

"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"


"If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"Novelists are told by many people, "write what you know." Somehow that translates to "write about your life." Which may stop you from moving forward, because what we live is usually not as interesting to us as the lives of others, or what we read.But this is good advice, to write what you know.

But take it down to the minutiae in your novel. What is that little trick your sister always did with her wrist when she was worried? What is your mother's signature goodbye to people she loves? And maybe you know, as a parent, that fear for your children far outweighs any fear for yourself. These are the things that enrich the novel, and enrich your reader's experience--and they are yours to tell.

--Andrea Doering, Senior Acquisitions Editor, Revell Books, an imprint of Baker Publishing Group